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Chapter 2 - Regalia (TCOK)
Rage was an emotion Tubba always had deep within him. He had a short fuse and was easily able to be provoked, which was used to the advantage of bullies in his younger years. Tubba soon found a way to endure, to keep the rage boiling below the surface. The one silver lining he had was that he would be King one day. When he was King, he would get back at everyone who had wronged him in his youth, show them what a great King he would be, so that they would be honoured to have known him. But for now, he was just an irrelevant Clubba who excelled at nothing. The high ranking generals in the Clubban army touted him as a brilliant mind for tactical warfare and for laying down plans, but Tubba could care less. Strategy got him nowhere for fourteen years. There was always the chance, since he was the son of the King, they were just overhyping him. Unfortunately, there was another Clubba who Tubba always had to be better than. He was the eldest son, he was the heir to the throne, he had to be the epitome of a courageous Clubba, a Clubba loved by his subjects. In every regard, he came second best to his twin brother. Chubba. From the day he was born, he was measured using that yardstick. "You fought well? That's great, but Chubba fought better." "You had a good idea? That's good, but Chubba had a better one." It infuriated Tubba to no end. He was the one with the great destiny, the birthright to the throne. To have the subjects of his father regard Chubba as the more gifted twin was nothing short of a heinous act. What made it worse was that they weren't the only ones. It was common knowledge around the School that Tubba was the inferior, the second best to his twin. Chubba instantly went into the popular circles, be it with Bubba, a fifteen-year old orange Clubba with a penchant for annoying Tubba, or Laff, a yellow Clubba that was Bubba's right-hand Clubba. Tubba excelled at nothing in the School. Magic? Aside from the basic Clubba magic, which involved the shell and the undershell, Tubba had scarce skills. The undershell, which covered the private areas of Clubbas, became the same colour as the skin it rested on, sans the privates, while the removable shell was on. The undershell only became corporeal and blocked that area from view once the shell was removed. The shell acted as a backpack as well as a source of protection, and Clubban magic allowed items beyond the normal storage capacity to be stored there. Clubban magic also allowed it to be less dense than most liquids, so it would float. Fighting? Tubba was able to hold his own against another Clubba, but rarely, even though he had the best teachers in the Kingdom, did he find himself able to overpower another Clubba convincingly. Sure, he could win, but never did he top the group, excel, and prove to himself that he was a worthy King. This apparent lack of skills left him open to ridicule. Chubba would hop in on the bandwagon many times over. Over the years, friction had been created between the twins. Tubba harboured a suspicion that Chubba was doing anything he could to deem Tubba unworthy for Kingship, so that their father, Tubba Sr., would pass over his firstborn and install the more-heralded Chubba on the throne. Ruling over the Clubba Kingdom came with plenty of weight because of the position of the Clubbas in the world. Long, long ago, Clubbas and related species such as Spiked Clubbas and Spikes had ruled over the Mushroom World, with the plentiful Humans, Toads, Yoshis and Beans having not yet developed the fighting strategies to defuse the sheer power of the Clubbas - large, bulky, built like a tank. But as time went on, their empire fell, the Spiked Clubbas dwindled to extinction, and the Clubbas were soon forced into a tiny northern portion of the Mushroom Mainland. Indeed, the Clubban territory encompassed all of Forever Forest and Gusty Gulch. Gusty Gulch was a thriving town, with Clubbas, Hyper Clefts, Spikes and Boos living in harmony. Forever Forest was the sole domain of the Boos and the Ghosts, but Clubbas were welcome there. Gusty Gulch had two main sections, with the south section, leading up to the castle, made of old, sandstone houses, occupied by the highest-ranking Clubbas. Off to the west side of the castle, the city exploded, with thousands upon thousands newer sandstone houses lining the paths and wells. Indeed, the Clubba population of Gusty Gulch was in excess of four hundred thousand. Factor in the Hyper Clefts, Boos and Spikes, and there were an awful lot of people looking to the King. Every King was now charged with the job of taking the Clubbas back to the heights of the glory days. A job, that sometimes, to Tubba, seemed impossible. A mountain that was unable to be scaled. A sea unable to be sailed. It was in times like this that Tubba reached into his shell and brought out a flat gold circle that resembled a coin, comfortably sitting in the palm of his large red hands, which were about twice as big as a human. Inscribed on the centre of the coin, carefully engraved with care, was the Clubba Kingdom insignia. The long, headed club crossed with a map of the known quarter of the Mushroom World, a testament to the lasting legacy of the Clubbas to explore, to endure, to be everlasting. Across the bottom, tiny, neat lettering said: "The Clubban Heir." This was Tubba's regalia, the regalia that said he was the heir. Every heir for centuries upon centuries had possessed the coin he held in his hands, be it his father, his father's father, or his great-grandmother. It gave him hope. He had faith in his abilities. The enormousness of the task ahead of him did scare him, but he would not fail. He would not be swayed off course by the tormentors that were his schoolmates, by the eternal yardstick Chubba, or by the Clubban subjects who saw his brother as more talented. He would be himself, and himself would be the greatest Clubban King all had ever known.